Big investors still hunting private market deals, including in S’pore, despite slower exits, risks

Big institutional investors are continuing to commit capital to private markets even as geopolitical tensions, elevated interest rates and slower exits make it harder to recover cash from existing holdings. According to Goldman Sachs' 2026 Global Alternatives Survey, about 84% of institutional investors plan to maintain or increase their private markets allocations, compared with 83% in 2025. Goldman Sachs found that 37% of investors intend to allocate more than in the previous year, 47% plan to keep their pace, and only 11% expect to invest less. The survey collected responses from 255 limited partners and other institutional investors surveyed between June and August 2026, including pension funds, insurers, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers and family offices. Twenty per cent of respondents manage more than US$100 billion in assets, and the sample was split across the Americas (43%), Europe, the Middle East and Africa (40%) and Asia-Pacific (17%).

Distributions remain the main constraint. Some 35% of respondents cited a lack of distributions as affecting their investment plans, up from 31% in 2025. Marc Nachmann, global head of asset and wealth management at Goldman Sachs, said confidence in private markets remains intact but investors are becoming more selective, favouring fund managers able to create value within their investments and deliver targeted returns. Jeff Fine, global co-head of alternatives capital formation at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, said the combination of geopolitical tensions and elevated rates has slowed traditional exits, but the race to power AI infrastructure is creating the most consequential deployment window of the decade.

Infrastructure and secondaries are emerging as priority areas. Some 43% of survey respondents had a more favourable outlook on infrastructure than a year earlier, versus 7% less favourable, with demand for computing power and data centres partly driven by AI. Private credit drew more mixed sentiment: 35% of respondents were more negative than a year earlier, while 65% saw opportunities as unchanged or better. Geopolitical tensions were ranked the biggest investment risk for a third consecutive year, cited by 36% of respondents ahead of inflation and the possibility of a US economic slowdown or recession. About 34% identified AI as the biggest force likely to reshape alternative investments over the next five years.

On Singapore, KPMG's report says the city-state remains a 'crown jewel' for private equity in Southeast Asia despite a sharp decline in deal value, citing political stability, a transparent legal system and its position as a regional financial hub. A separate EY report found Singapore accounted for more than 74% of total private equity value in Southeast Asia in 2025. The Monetary Authority of Singapore is considering giving retail investors broader access to private market funds, which have traditionally been limited mainly to institutional investors and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Goldman Sachs, which has over 30 years of experience and more than US$706 billion in assets under management, conducted the survey.